{"id":52554,"date":"2022-11-16T07:24:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-15T23:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=52554"},"modified":"2022-11-15T19:26:49","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T11:26:49","slug":"kaspersky-experts-report-over-230-growth-in-number-of-malicious-mining-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2022\/11\/16\/kaspersky-experts-report-over-230-growth-in-number-of-malicious-mining-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaspersky experts report over 230% growth in number of malicious mining programs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Q3 2022, Kaspersky researchers saw a sharp increase in crypto miner variants \u2013 an overall growth of over 230% compared to the same period last year. The number is three times more than in the third quarter of 2021 and now exceeds 150,000. Remaining hidden for months, cybercriminals use the processing power of the victim\u2019s computer to mine cryptocurrency, with an income reaching up to $40,500 (2 BTC) per month. Monero (XMR) is the most popular cryptocurrency for malicious mining.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the beginning of the \u201ccrypto winter of 2022\u201d, when the value of cryptocurrencies dropped significantly, the cryptocurrency industry is facing a liquidity crisis. Despite that, criminal activity targeting the cryptocurrency industry does not seem to be slowing down, according to Kaspersky\u2019s new research paper \u201cThe state of cryptojacking in 2022.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cryptocurrency mining is a painstaking and costly process but very rewarding at the same time, which is why it attracts the interest of cybercriminals. Making money using crypto miners is profitable for cybercriminals \u2014 they don\u2019t pay for equipment or for electricity, which will be rather expensive in 2022. They install mining software on the victim\u2019s computer to use its processing power without the user’s consent. It does not require much specialist technical expertise. In fact, all the attacker needs to know is how to create a miner using open-source code or where to buy one. If the cryptomining malware is installed successfully on the victim\u2019s computer, it provides its operator with steady earnings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, 2022 saw a sharp increase in the number of new modifications to malicious mining programs. During the first three quarters of 2022, expert analysis identified 215 843 new miners, which is more than twice as many as last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q1 2021 <\/td>23,894 <\/td><\/tr>
Q2 2021 <\/td>31,443  <\/td><\/tr>
Q3 2021 <\/td>46,097 <\/td><\/tr>
Q1 2022 <\/td>21,282 <\/td><\/tr>
Q2 2022 <\/td>40,788 <\/td><\/tr>
Q3 2022 <\/td>153,773 <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The number of new miner modifications, Q1 \u2013 Q3, 2021 and 2022<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, this increase is only due to a sharp jump in the 3rd quarter of 2022. Compared to Q3 2021, the growth was over 230%. Thus, in Q3 2022, the number of new malicious miners exceeded 150,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the analyzed samples of malicious mining software (48%) secretly mine Monero (XMR) currency via the victim\u2019s computer. This currency is known for its advanced technologies that anonymize transaction data to achieve maximum privacy. Those monitoring it cannot decipher addresses trading Monero, transaction amounts, balances, or transaction histories \u2014all these factors are extremely appealing to cybercriminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the worlds\u2019 most widely used cryptocurrency, Bitcoin wallets that were used in illicit mining accumulated around 1.5K USD on average in Bitcoin every month. The company\u2019s researchers recorded an incoming transaction of 2 BTC, which is more than $40,500, per one analyzed wallet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most frequently, attackers distribute miners through malicious files masquerading as pirated content \u2014films, music, games, and software. At the same time, unpatched vulnerabilities pose a serious challenge to users while being an appealing lure for cybercriminals who exploit them to spread miners. Kaspersky’s telemetry shows that nearly every 6th vulnerability exploiting attack was accompanied by a miner infection. In Q3, miners became even more widespread than backdoors, which were the prime choice of cybercriminals throughout the first half of 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q1 2022<\/strong> <\/td>% <\/td>Q2 2022<\/strong> <\/td>% <\/td>Q3 2022<\/strong> <\/td>% <\/td><\/tr>
backdoor <\/td>28,86% <\/td>backdoor <\/td>27,4% <\/td>ransom <\/td>21,2% <\/td><\/tr>
ransom <\/td>17,01% <\/td>ransom <\/td>17,1% <\/td>miner <\/strong><\/td>16,5% <\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
miner <\/strong><\/td>12,20% <\/strong><\/td>miner <\/strong><\/td>13,8% <\/strong><\/td>backdoor <\/td>15,6% <\/td><\/tr>
downloader <\/td>3,00% <\/td>downloader <\/td>1,8% <\/td>downloader <\/td>2,7% <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The share of miners among the malware that attackers tried to launch as a result of exploiting vulnerabilities <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough these are not the best days for the cryptocurrency industry, the topic of cryptocurrency has been in the spotlight throughout the year, so it\u2019s not surprising that malicious actors would want to profit from these trends. The silver lining is that while the number of threats is rising, there are no dramatic changes in the number of users that encounter miners. That is why it is extremely important to raise awareness about the first signs that malware is being downloaded onto your computer. It is also necessary to install a reliable security solution that will prevent attacks at an early stage,\u201d comments Andrey Ivanov, a security expert at Kaspersky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about the state of cryptojacking in 2022, visit Securelist.com.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To stay protected from crypto miners, Kaspersky experts also recommend:<\/p>\n\n\n\n